Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XXV [The Flame / City That Never Sleeps / Hell's Half Acre]

This collection features three film noir classics from Republic Pictures and director John H. Auer (A Man Betrayed). THE FLAME (1947) – George MacAllister (John Carroll, Flying Tigers) is the black sheep of a wealthy family who has squandered his share of the family inheritance and lives in constant resentment of his rich, terminally-ill half-brother Barry (Robert Paige, Tangier). So George gets his girlfriend, Carlotta Duval (vivacious Vera Ralston, The Lady and the Monster), a job as Barry’s nurse with the plan that she will eventually marry him for his money and then dispose of him. But the scheme turns complicated when Carlotta finds that she is really in love with Barry. Co-starring Broderick Crawford (Human Desire), Henry Travers (Shadow of a Doubt) and Hattie McDaniel (Gone with the Wind). CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS (1953) – The Creeps, the Hoods, and the Killers Come Out to War with the City! In the vein of William Wyler’s popular Detective Story of two years earlier, this gritty noir gem juggles around five characters through a particularly bad night in a Chicago police precinct: stressed-out cop Johnny Kelly (Gig Young, Wake of the Red Witch); lounge singer Sally “Angel Face” Connors (Mala Powers, Outrage); thug-for-hire Hayes Stewart (William Talman, Crashout); corrupt district attorney Penrod Biddel (Edward Arnold, Johnny Eager); and Sgt. Joe (Chill Wills, Giant), an honest cop trying to keep Johnny on a straight path. Striking urban cinematography by John L. Russell (Psycho) and another great bad-girl performance by noir goddess Marie Windsor (Force of Evil). HELL’S HALF ACRE (1954) – City of Sin…Toughest Spot in the Pacific! This Hawaii-set noir tells the twisting tale of ex-racketeer Chet Chester (Wendell Corey, Desert Fury), who is being blackmailed by his former partners-in-crime. When Chester’s gal Sally (Nancy Gates, Suddenly) kills one of his enemies, he assumes that he has enough clout to get a lighter sentence and takes the rap. Meanwhile, a visitor from L.A. (Evelyn Keyes, 99 River Street) comes to believe that Chester is the husband she thought she had lost at Pearl Harbor. Written by Steve Fisher (I Wake Up Screaming) and shot by ace D.P. John L. Russell (Moonrise), this offbeat crime yarn features standout support from Elsa Lanchester (Bride of Frankenstein), Jesse White (Witness to Murder), Leonard Strong (The Naked Jungle), Keye Luke (Gremlins), Philip Ahn (Macao) and the great Marie Windsor (The Killing).